Compressed gas guns which fire non-lethal projectiles known as paint balls are typically used to mark individuals for future identification without causing injury. Such non-lethal projectiles are used by sportsmen, police, military and other security forces to mark targeted persons participating in mock war games and other training exercises. While these paint balls may also be used during riots as a means of crowd control or in any other situation which mandates a "less than lethal" attack or defense strategy, they provide little deterrence other than marking the targeted individual with paint.
Traditionally, non-lethal projectiles developed for the purpose of riot control have mainly consisted of rubber bullets which often penetrate the skin causing severe injury to the target. Such rubber bullets have often caused much more severe injury than intended. Further, where no injury occurs, the targeted individual may escape identification.
Recently, paint ball projectiles made of a plastic, such as polystyrene, were developed to fracture in a predetermined pattern upon impact with a target. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,254,379 and 5,639,526 (the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entirety) provide a plastic paint ball constructed of a linear polymer of sufficient strength to transport, load, and fire out of a compressed gas gun, which is molecularly oriented such that, upon application of a force at any impact point on the paint ball shell, the shell fractures in a way that greatly reduces the risk of injury. Further, because the plastic paint ball is not water soluble like a gelatinous one, it is not sensitive to the environment and can be filled with a wide variety of components, including aqueous dyes, powders and solids.
While such plastic paint balls effectively mark a target without injury, they do not adequately stun or immobilize a target, as is needed for the purpose of riot control. Further, traditional paint balls, whether the shell is formed from gelatin or plastic, suffer from inaccuracy, especially when launched from a distance greater than 100 feet from the target. This inaccuracy is due, in part, to the spherical shape and smooth surface of the paint ball projectile. The spherical shape creates an irregular, turbulent flow around the projectile causing an unstable flight pattern. Also, when a smooth surfaced paint ball is fired from a smooth-bore, uniform barrel, the result is a ball generally without spin, which behaves unpredictably. Additionally, due to inherent manufacturing difficulties, most paint ball projectiles are not perfectly spherical. For example, gelatinous paint balls tend to be at least 0.015" out of round. While plastic shells are usually only about 0.002" out of round, even this seemingly small oblong shape imparts inaccuracy to the fired paint ball projectile.
Another problem is that the effective range of current paint ball projectiles is very limited. This is because paint balls are typically large projectiles, are not very dense, and are fired at low muzzle velocities, all of which creates a substantial amount of drag in comparison to the momentum provided to the paint ball upon firing with a compressed gas gun.
Thus, there remains a need for a projectile that is effective in marking and stunning, or otherwise immobilizing, a target. Preferably marking occurs without causing serious injury or death to the target. There remains a further need to produce such a projectile that has increased accuracy and range when used with the launching power of compressed gas guns.